Former boyfriend sentenced to life imprisonment for murder

– In the opinion of the court the deed was particularly brutal and so the punishment must be a life sentence, chief district judge Monica Felding, chairman of the court, tells us.

Prosecutor Johan Eriksson is satisfied with the sentence against the 27-year-old man.

– It is a correct sentence, in line with legislative practice. If you take another person's life, you must be sentenced for murder, he says.

Early on the morning of Friday 17th September 2021 the 27-year-old's former girlfriend was found dead in her home at Hammar.

A caretaker was the first witness. He was called out to attend to a water-leak, and localised the leak to the woman's flat. Once inside he found the woman and could quickly confirm that she was no longer alive and had not died a natural death.

The police arrested the suspected 27-year-old the same day.

A forensic psychiatric examination showed that the 27-year-old was suffering from a psychosis at the time of the woman's death.

The 27-year-old had also had psychoses before.

Prosecutor John Eriksson claimed, among other things, that the psychosis was self-inflicted and had been precipitated by drugs the man had taken.

The defence believed that the 27-year-old, as a result of his psychosis, was not wholly aware of what he was doing. In order to be convicted of murder the person concerned must be fully aware of what he is doing.

Kristianstad district court chose to accept the prosecution's arguments.The man subjected the woman to several very serious acts of violence, including knife injuries to her throat. The court believes that the man acted with the intention of killing the woman.

In October 2020 there were 152 people in prison in Sweden who had been sentenced to life imprisonment, according to Kriminalvården (Prison Service).